The lunch rush is over, but there’s still a steady stream of customers through the door of Cosmic Kitchen on a recent Friday afternoon. Over the banter of diners and clatter in the kitchen and interruptions that include buying some fresh halibut, owners Sean Hogan and Michelle Wilson take a break to talk about their newest endeavor.

On a recent morning at the Homer Public Library, before the building officially opened for the day, kids with bright smiles ran from the parking lot to the front door. These aspiring programmers were on their way to the third day of the library’s free, four-day Coding Camp led by Tauseef, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center in Pittsburgh, PA. With huge grins the kids, ages nine to eleven, made their way to the library’s meeting room where they spent the morning learning the fundamentals of computer science. (A group of teens also spent four afternoons programming.) Using JavaScript, a common programming language used for games, apps and websites, the kids drew, colored, and animated circles. While it sounds basic, they were actually using advanced math, reading, writing, problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills to design the beginnings of the familiar game known as Pong. Each unique game design included more than 100 lines of code which the kids created, edited, and rewrote themselves.

When it comes to marking milestones, it’s a fairly safe bet that Monica and Patrick Mede will have a hard time topping the first six months of 2016: they moved back to Alaska from Texas in January, immediately bought a house in Homer and started the process of buying a business, got a puppy in May, officially became the new owners of Ulmer’s Drug &Hardware on June 1, got married on June 4 and flew out for a week-long honeymoon on June 5.

Hospice of Homer announces that Jessica Ramsey Golden has been hired as the organization’s new executive director. Golden is a lifelong Alaskan, and she and her family recently relocated to Homer from Anchorage.

The results of the recent presidential election left some in our nation in a state of shock, disbelief, appall, uncertainty, and even fear. Others were pleasantly surprised, jubilant, and sighed a breath of relief that the Washington elite were finally put on notice.

Pots of poinsettias — the traditional solid red and white ones, as well as the newer variety known as candy cane for their mixed red and white coloring — were scattered across the floor and glitter roses for dancers in the Nutcracker ballet were selling almost as fast as Rachel Woolard could make them.

It was the busy Christmas season at Alaska Flower Mill and holiday arrangements in all shapes and sizes were headed out the door, but Woolard’s thoughts were already shifting toward Valentine’s Day.

The Homer Foundation manages permanently endowed scholarship funds that provide approximately $20,000 in annual awards to area students for a variety of educational endeavors. Scholarships that are currently available include: